Train-announcing system



Feb. '7; 1928. 1,658,232

' A. J. EAVES TRAIN ANNOUNCING SYSTEM Filed June 12, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I l/vvemar Auyusfus J [was 1 658' 2 A'. J. EAVES 1 TRAIN ANNOUNGING SYSTEM Filed June 12, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet .2

Feb. 7, 1928.

[was

mvenfan' yusfas Patented Feb. 7, 1928.

UNITED STATES AUGUSTUS .3. nA-vns, or new YORK, .N, ASSIGNOB To WESTERN ELECTRIC room RANY, INCORPORATED. or new YORK,

PATENT caries.

N. .2, .A CQBBORATION iornnw YORK;

Tnmn-nnnotmomo Application filed June 12, 1925. serial nasaeos.

This invention relates to train announcing systems and more particularly to systems for authority announcing in itrains going in 0pposite directions to and from the same station.

An object of this invention is to provide a train announcing system that is entirely automatic in its actions, nuder the control trains going through a station at "the same time.

Another feature of the invention :resides .in the provision of .means whereby partial announcements to'a train are prevented. V

' Another feature isthe provision or means whereby :the announcement for each train is repeated a definite number of times.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of means whereby an announcement in a train may begin when the train approaching astation isat a certain distance from the station and continue until thet-rain .has departed a certain distance from the station or whereby announcements are made only while a train is standing at a station with'its doors open.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates the invention arranged so that announcement may be made for 'a certain period before the trains reach the station and continue until the trains have departed a certain distancefrom the station while ,Fig. 2 shows a portion of. this system so arranged that announcements may be made only while trains are standingat a station with the doors open. 7

Referring to Fig.1, 5 indicates a station platform where *6 and 7 respectively mine i sent trains at the-station with arrows indicating the directions in which they-are traveling. 8 indi ites the usual "loud speaking receivers or snnilar apparatus in the trains by which announcements are made to the passengers. Pairs of conductors 10 and 11 represent trolley wires extending for -a-short 'distanoe beyond :each' end 'ofth-e platform 5 While 12 and I3 represent-contact brushes :or shoes :senviing :as contacting :means between the meceiving apparatus and the trolley wires. In the box '20 is shown diagrammatn eally aphonographapparatus of the usual type having a cylindrical record 21 on Which sound variations representing the train announcements are recorded. A reproducer 22 issfhownrassociated -withmeans 'for moving it over the accord such aneans Ebeing representedlbyza oarriage -23, screw 24 and the motor 25. "Two Econtact brushes 35 and 39 attached to the'carriage-23 are adapted to avipeover two groupsio-f contact segments26 as the re producer unoves :over the record ,from one end to the :other Q01 from le fit to night. It should 'be understood' that this part ofthe equipv ment enclosed in box 20 may be any well known apparatus for reproducing speech;

such asian ord ina ry cylinder record Edison talking imachineor'the like. The remaining apparatus shown in Fig. 1, consists of the relays and :CIFOIIItS therefor arranged m accordance with this invention to connect *in I the :reproduoer 22 with the receivers 8 in the :train atithe proper times.

The Loperation' of this particular arrangement of the invention will now be described by tracing the automatic functions IPI'O- i duced by :the trains as they approach :and

lease the station platform sumed, then that for example, train"-7 is appreaching :station .5, as soon as the brushes 13 on ithe ifirst car come in contact with the trolley miles All, a :circuit will be closed-asits outer right-:hancl .armatur'e and*r0nt con.

If it is as tact. It will be :noted that the operation of relay 33 r'closes the energizing circuit for motor #25 which now starts the phonograph apparatus; The operation of relay 33 also closes theusual battery --supply circuits for an 21 and when the brush 35 makes contact with output circuit of amplifier 34 is now con se 'ment36 a circuit will be closed for the 0 aeration of rela 32 from batter I VVIHCllIl 1 i y 5 a of relay 32, brush 3o, segment 36 to ground. This causes the operation of relay 32 and the nected across the trolley wires 11 to the re ceivers 3 as follows: from one side of the output. circuit through the right-hand armature and front contact of relay 32, outer right-hand armature and front contact of relay 31, the lower trolley wire 11, brushes 13,

receivers 8, the upper brushes 13 and trol- .ing segments which connect with brush 39.

ley wire 11, left-hand armature and back contact of relay 37 to the other side of the output circuit of amplifier 3 1. As the reproducer 22 now travels over record 21 for the distance represented by the length of the segment 36, an announcement recorded on the corresponding portion of the record is transmitted therefrom to the passengers in train 7 and when the brush 35 leaves segment 36 this announcement is atan end and a circuit is then closed for the operation of relay 37 as brush 39 has now comein contact with segment 40 the circuit for this relay is as follows: battery, left-hand armature and front contact of relay 31, winding of relay 37 segment 40, brush 39 toground. Relay 37 in operating provides a locking circuit for itself to ground at its right-hand armature and front contact independent of the ground at segment 40. IWhile brush 39 passes over segment 40, no announcement is riodof travel of brush 39 over segment 40 an announcement would have been made in train 6 had it been in a position where its brushes 12 contact with trolley. wires 10. The operations of thesystem for announcing in train 6 will be described later.

Returning now to the announcing in train 7, as brush 39 leaves segment 40, brush 35 will make contact with segment 11 and the circuit for relay 32 will again be closed through the segment 41 so thata connection will again be established between reproducer 22 and receivers 8 and the announcements on. record 21 are so arranged that at this time the same announcement as was made when thebrush 35 passed over segment 36 will be repeated to the passengers on train 7. Also the arrangement is such that as the brush 35 advances further this announcecessively with segments 47, 43, and 49, re-

lays 50, 51, and 52 will be respectively energized and locked to batttery at relay 31. "1 l -h l 'l 1 52' i eicroic, wien t e ast ie a; is enei gized one side of the connection from the output circuit of amplifier 3a: to the trolley -wires 11 will be broken and no further announcements can be made from reproducer 22 to the receivers 8 in train 7. It will be noted that relays 37, 46, 50, 51, and 52 determine the number of announcements to be made to thetrains arriving at a station. In this live announcements are made. The number of announcements can be increased or. decrased by increasing or decreasing the number of such relays and their correspondis the brushes 13 on the last car of train '7 leave the trolley wires 11, relay 30 will be released. and the release of this relay causes also L-llG release of relays 31 and 33,

relay 31 opening the locking circuits for relays 37, 4:6, 50, 51, and while the release of relay 30 opens the circuit for relay 33, which in turn opens the operating cir cuits for motor 34 and amplifier 3a. The circuit for motor 25 is however still closed through the contacts 55 which are arranged to be closed the momentthe reproducer 22 leaves the normal position and the motor will therefore continue to operate the phonograph in any well known manner to return the carriage 23, reproducer 22 and brushes 35 and 39 to normal position at which time the contacts are opened for example by the carriage 23 or in any other suitable manner to stop the motor.

If instead of train 7 passing through the station, train 6 had passed through the station the operations for announcing in this train would have been practically identical with the operations described above for announcing in train 7 except that instead of relays 30 and 31 being operated, relays 56 and 57 would have been similarly operated and announcements for this train would take place as brush 35 passed between the segments 36, all, 42, 3, and er and the locking relays 58. 59, 60, 61, and 62 would have operated when the brush 39 passed over segments 63, 64, (35, 66, and 67 and when relay 62 operated the one side of the output circuit to the trolley wires 10 would have been broken at the rigl'lt-hand armature and back contact of this relay to discontinue the announcing. p p e e it will, he noted that --relay when operated extends one side of the output circuit of amplifier '3 i to the trolley Wires 'llan'd when it is-released this side of the output circuit is extended to the trolley wires 10. In-this manner in case both trainsfi and? are' approachingor leaving the-station and having theiribrushes 12 and 13 connected respectively -to thetrolley wires 10 and '11, announcements will be made alternately to the two trains, that is, announcements for train 7 avi'll'he made whilethe reprod'ucer 22 is in a position where brush 35 makes contact with segments 36, 41, 42, 43, and 44 while announcements in train -6willbe' made while .the-reproducer is 1-11 a position where brush 35 is passing between these segments;

Iincase one oft-he trainscomes incontact with its trolley wires while the other train has been in contact with itst'rolley wires for asuflicient period to receive the same announcements a number olfi times, say twice the time trainfi li'rst makes contactwith its trolley wires '10, it'will beseen that relay 32 is energized andrelays 56"and 57 will therefore be operated, that is relay 57 will 'operatefrom the ground at the left-hand "arma-i ture and front contact of relay 32. As soon as relay 57 is energized, relay 60 will become energized through ,t he sground from brush '39 through segment Therefore,

when brush 35 leaves segment 43 and relay 32 'deenergizes, a circuit will be closed from reproducer 22 to the receivers 8 as follows: one side o'flthe output-circuit of amplifier'iil, right-hand armature and back contact of relay 32, outer left-hand armature and front contact of relay 57 to the trolley wires 10,

brushes 12 and receivers 8 to the right-hand armature and back contact "or delay '61 :to

the other side of the output circuit, Train (3 will, therefore, receive its first announce mcnt while the brush travels between the segmentsf l3 and 44-. Then when 'brush'35 v comes into contact with segment 441 l'Gl2ty 32 is again energized and the connection from,

the reproducer 22 to the receivers 8 in train 7 willbe completed and an announcement in this train will now be made. It Willbethus seen that trains dand T will receivelannouncemen'ts alternately and ordinarily the phonograph would stop when brush 39 comes into contact with segment 67, return to normal, open the-contact "and Stop {at tlris' point, but due to the fact "that relays :58 and- 59 have not been=energized-and that 're'la-ys 56 and 57 are still operated, relay 33 remains operated and the circuit for the motor magnet 25 will still be closed. The

reproducer and brushes will, thei'efore, com mence to travel-a second time over the record and segments so that train '6 will receive three more announcements, making a total of five announcements, until relays f58,"59 and- 6O are-energized by the hrush 39 trave'L' in'g-ovei-"se'gments r63 andM and 65. -HOW- ever, as soon as relay is energized the connection between the "reproducer 22 and hand armature and back contact of this re lay and no more announcements will be made to this train. It will be noted, however, that when the reproducer'reached the endof its first journey across the record, the operation of relay '52 when brush 39 passes over segment 49, caused the'openrng the receivers Swill be opened at the rig'ht-.-

of the connection between the reproducer and the receivers 8 on train 7 so that no further announcements could therefore 'be made for this train even though the reproducer travels over the record "a second time.

In this manner no matter when a train makes contact with its respective trolley 'wires, no more than the required number of announcements will be made for -.each train even though both trains maybe in contact with their trolley wires at *thesam time and thereby cause the reproducer to travel over the irecordtwice in succession.

- It will also beobserved that if .thebrushes of a train come into contact with their trolley wires at a time when the brusl1es35 and 39 and the reproducer are in a position Where a' portion of an announcement is being taken off by the reproducer, the remaining portion of the announcement will not be transmitted in the train as the-circuit connection between the vreproducer and the *re-, ceive-rs will not be closed until the brush 39 reaches asucceeding segment. For example, if'trazin 6 should approach the-"st-ation and the brushes 12 come into contact withtrdlley Wires l0-when the reproducer'is between segments -42 and 43, it "will; be seen that relay 32 will thenv bein operated positio-ir'so that the relay 57 will not be energized from the ground at the left-hand arniatureof this relay until the brush 35 has come into con-' tact with segment 43 and consequently the reproducerypasses through a portion "on the record 21 where an announcement fortrain 6 is recorded and an announcement for 'this train will therefore 'not startuntil brush '35 leaves segment 43; Consequently, no portion of an announcement Will at any time be transmitted to a train "but announcing will begin at the beginning of a period for announcement. 1 i

' and the contacts 41 closed.

Fig. 2 shows an arrangement of the invention where the announcing will onlytake place while the trains 6 and 7 are standing still at the station 5 as the circuits for the receivers 8 will only be closed across the brushesl3 or 12 when the doors 40 are open In thiscase the trolley wires 10 and 11 need only be of sufficient length to have the brushes 12 and 18 make contact therewith when the trains are, standing still at the station. In this case relays for opening the circuit connections between the reproducer 22 and the receivers 8 will not be necessary and consequently brush 39 and the segments controlled there by will be eliminated and the one side of the output circuit for amplifier 34 is therefore connected directly to the trolley wires 10 and 11 instead of through the left-hand armatures and back contacts of relay 37, I6, 50, 51, 52, 58, 59, 60, 61, 6:2,. Otherwise the circuits for the invention applied in this manner are identical with the circuits described in connection with Fig. l.

l Vhat is claimed is:

1. In a train announcing system, trains and astation, and means for announcing in a train, said means operating automatically when said train, in approaching the station, is at a certain distance therefrom and automatically ceasing to operate when said train, in departing from the station, is at a certain distance therefrom.

2. In a train announcing system, trains and a station, and means for announcing in two trains alternately, said means operating automatically when said trains, in approaching the station, are at a certain distance therefrom, and automaticallyceasing to op erate when said trains, in departing from the station, are at a certain distance therefrom. I

3. In a train announcing system, trains and a station, and means for repeating a certain announcement a certain number of times in a train, said means operating automatically to. begin the announcing when said train, in approaching the station, is at a certain distance therefrom, and operating automatically to cease the announcing when 'matically to cease announcing when the announcements have been repeated said certain number of times or when said train, in departing from the station, is at a certain distance therefrom.

5. In a train announcing system, trains and a station, and means for repeating one announcement a number of times in one trainalternately with the repeating of another announcement a number of times in another train, said means being automatically operated When said trains, in approaching the station, are at a certain distance therefrom, and arranged to automatically cease to operate when the particular announcement for each train has been repeated the required number of times.

6. In a train announcing system, trains and a station, means for repeating one announcement a number of times in one train alternately with the repeating of another announcement a number of times in another train, said means being automatically opated when said trains, in approaching the station, are at a certain distance therefrom, and arranged to automatically cease to operate when the particular announcement for each train has been repeated the required number of times, and means for preventing a portion of any announcement to be made in a train when said first mentioned means is actuated.

7 In a train announcing system, trains and a station, receiving apparatus in the trains, an announcement reproducing device at the stat-ion, and means for automatically associating the reproducing device with the receiving apparatus in a train and start said device to reproduce an announcement in said train when said train, in approaching the station, is at a certain distance therefrom and for automatically disassociating the reproducing device from said receiving apparatus to stop the announcing in said train when said train, in departing from the station, is at a certain distance therefrom.

8. In a train announcing system, trains and a station, receiving apparatus in the trains, an announcement reproducing device at the station including means for reproducing two difierent kinds of announcements alternately a definite number of times, means for automatically associating the reproducing device with the receiving apparatus in two trains to start the repeating of announcements of one kind in one train and to start the repeating of announcements of another kind in the other train when said trains, in approaching the station, are at a certain distance therefrom, and for automatically disassociating said reproducing device from the receiving apparatus in the trains when the corresponding announcements have been repeated said definite numberv of times. i

9. In a train announcing system, trains and a station, receiving apparatus in the trains, an announcement reproducing device at the station including means for reproducing two different kinds of announcements alternately a definite number of times.

Inn

means for automatically associating the reproducing device With the receiving apparatus in two trains to start the repeating of announcements of one kind in one train and to start the repeating of announcements of another kind in the other train when said trains, in approaching the station, 'a1'e at a certain distance therefrom, and for automat-ically disassociating said reproducing device from the receiving apparatus in the trains when the corresponding. announcements have been repeatedsaid definite number of times, and means for preventing a portion of any announcement from being transmitted to the receiving apparatus in any one of the trains.

.10. In a train announcing system, trains and a station, and means for repeating one announcement a number of times in one vtrain alternately with the repeating of another announcement anumber of times in another train, said means being automatically operated when said trains are at asta tion.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe 25 my name this 11th day of June, A. D. 1925.

AUGUSTUS JQEAvEs. 

